


That's What the Water Gave Me

by psychiatric_cannibal



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Gen, Hallucinations, Post Savoureux
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-03
Updated: 2013-09-03
Packaged: 2017-12-25 12:20:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/953029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/psychiatric_cannibal/pseuds/psychiatric_cannibal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It felt useless to start struggling now, especially when this was the only place he’d found peace between the terrors of reality and the horrific dreams that seemed to plague him every night.</p>
            </blockquote>





	That's What the Water Gave Me

Water was purity, and the steady waves felt cleansing as they washed over him. It was cold, it was clarity, it was life and death all pulled into a single entity, filling Will's lungs, his nose, his mouth. It drew him deeper into darkness as he sank, away from the surface, and away from the horrors that lie above it.

A thrumming, steady and low, rang in his ears, comforting. The current swept him along, carrying him far from the grotesque leftovers of the ripper, the disappointment and doubt he knew Jack Crawford was harboring for him, the painfully unrequited feelings he held for Alana. It took away his guilt and disgust at the possibility of killing Abigail Hobbs, and most importantly it took Will away from _him_. 

Needles pricked at his skin as the water grew colder, he was drowning, had been for a few minutes now. Had he really only just noticed? It felt useless to start struggling now, especially when this was the only place he’d found peace between the terrors of reality and the horrific dreams that seemed to plague him every night. The drag on Will's limbs made them feel heavy, or perhaps the effect was brought on by the prolonged lack of oxygen. His lungs burned, and for a moment the pain outweighed the coveted serenity. 

Will had a second where he thought that maybe this was real, and not some mentally constructed means of escape from the sick and twisted mess his life had become. Maybe he’d made it out of the holding facility, maybe he’d killed the guards in his sleep and walked into the ocean, swept under by the mesmerizing pull of the currents. He would die here, never to find the truth about Abigail's death, or who Hannibal Lecter actually was. His name would be slandered for years to come, his story plastered all over the front page of Tattle Crime, Freddie Lounds' smile shouting a proud 'I told you so.". Jack, Beverly, Zeller, Price…they’d all believe it if he was to disappear now; they’d have nothing else to go on. Still, he could not bring himself to struggle toward the surface. He didn’t even know which way to go should he make an attempt; not that it particularly mattered. Dead men don't care about much.

Euphoria spread throughout his core. He’d read about this..about drowning. Will had experienced it once before; a gangly child falling off his father’s boat. He’d never gotten past the pain, though. Now he almost wished he had, it might have saved him some trouble. Will's hair tickled his face, but the sensation was lost on him as he contemplated these things. He could no longer feel his arms, and there was the barest amount of feeling left in his thighs. Everything would end here, in this cold and black space that he’d been dragged to. 

He pushed the water out of his lungs, felt it drag over his tongue and his teeth. It was salty, and it grated over his failing senses. Will realized what the thrumming was, now. It wasn’t the currents..it was his heart. Slower now, he knew it would be over soon. Will’s mind felt heavy, and it seemed to him as if he was being drugged and laid to bed. He thought of their faces, all of them, everyone he knew in his life, and held onto it.

The thrumming stopped, and so did everything else.

The prison cell was cold, and so was he.


End file.
